When the Light’s Not
Right

This
youngster wears sleepshades as she practices her cane travel skills in
a long corridor.

Editor’s Note: Does
your partially sighted child or student avoid traveling after dark, or does
he or she hesitate and seem lost or confused when he or she steps into a hall
flooded with glaring sunlight? Traveling independently under poor lighting conditions
is one of the ninety-plus travel situations Willoughby and Monthei examine in
detail in their book, Modular Instruction for Independent Travel for Students
Who are Blind or Visually Impaired: Preschool Through High School. The following
excerpt is a good example of the style, approach, and content you will find
throughout this excellent resource and teaching guide. (Information about how
to order the book is at the end of the article.) Here is what Willoughby and
Monthei have to say about promoting independent travel even under poor lighting
conditions:

Module
8

Poor
Lighting Conditions:
Independence at Night
In Dim Light and With Glare

OBJECTIVE: The student’s
independence will be consistent regardless of lighting conditions—including
glare, inconsistent lighting, dim lighting, and day vs. night.

AGE OF STUDENT: All
ages (Note: Ages are mentioned in relation to circumstances given in a particular
Example—e.g., recess in an elementary school. Concepts and techniques apply
to all ages.

Manner of presentation
would be altered according to the student’s maturity.)

ADDITIONAL SKILL EMPHASIS:Finding a personIn a crowd or a lineFinding a seatResponsibility and
citizenshipWeather and temperature

SEE ALSO (Other Modules):Inclement WeatherVisually Confusing
AppearanceSleep ShadesWalking Independently
While Following SomeoneUnexpected Drop-Off
or Step-DownAuditorium or Theater

TEACHER PREPARATION:
Inquire about present level of independence in dim light and in extreme glare.
Look for situations and times when the student could encounter these conditions
during lessons.

REMARKS: Many persons
with partial sight travel fairly well in normal daylight, but have significant
difficulty at night or under glare conditions. A person may use a cane at all
times, yet continue to rely mainly on the eyes for certain things—e.g., finding
doorways or watching for traffic. Or, he may decline to use a cane in daylight
at all, believing he “doesn’t need the cane unless the light is bad.”

The remedy is consistent
reliance on good cane technique.

First, the student must
learn techniques thoroughly while wearing sleep shades, not using sight at all.
Outside of lesson time, he may supplement the cane with the use of sight when
it is convenient. However, the cane remains in use at all times, and alternative
techniques are relied upon whenever sight may be unreliable or inconvenient.
(See Handbook, pp. 182-185.)

ACTIVITIES:

EXAMPLE 1: SUDDEN CHANGE
OF LIGHTING CONDITIONS

(Primary grades)

“Mrs. Brown tells me that
coming in from recess has been hard for you. People have been helping you find
your coat hook and find your seat. Would you tell me about that?…

“Thank you for explaining.
So, it’s very bright on the playground, and then the hallway seems awfully dark.
It takes awhile for your eyes to get used to the change…

“Mrs. Brown tells me that
you have your cane with you when you’re coming in, and we’re glad you’re remembering.
I’m going to help you get the cane to work even more while you’re coming in,
so that you won’t need extra help.”

Proceed
with the following practice:

Have student wear sleep
shades and practice “coming in from recess” during a travel lesson. Have him
go in and out of the rest room; find his coat hook; find the door to his classroom;
etc.

Simulate coming in from
recess (again, with sleep shades) while you follow with a stopwatch. Everything
must be completed in the five minutes normally allowed.

In a special extra lesson,
do the same things without using sleep shades. Emphasize relying on the cane
regardless of what is seen (or not seen) visually. Again, have the student simulate
coming in from recess while you follow with a stopwatch. If he hesitates, trying
to focus his eyes, prompt him: “Use your cane! Three more minutes!”

Observe the end of an actual
recess, and note that the student arrives at his seat without extra help.

Ask classroom and playground
teachers to help you spot-check maintenance of good habits.

EXAMPLE 2: LIGHTING IS
DIM OR UNRELIABLE

(Middle School or high
School)

Problem: The student
travels well under sleep shades in various environments. At school, however,
even though he has his cane with him, he tends to run into people in the west
stairway and the north hallway. He has great difficulty finding a seat in a
classroom if the lights are off for a film.

You note that the north
hall and the west stairwell are rather unevenly lighted. You say, “I’d like
to tell you about an unfortunate high school student I once knew. Although he
didn’t see well at all, he refused to use a cane at school. One stairway, especially,
was rather dimly lighted. One day he was going down in a hurry and ran into
another student—hard.

“The other student thought
he had done it on purpose, and slugged him. The blind student hit back, and
they both found themselves in the principal’s office. As an added complication,
one of the young men was White and one was African-American; each thought the
other was racially motivated.

“They were both suspended
for three days.

“Now, I am pleased to point
out that you are not making that other student’s biggest mistake—not having
a cane at all. If he had had a cane, it’s very likely that the other student
would have given him space, or at least would not have thought he ran into him
on purpose. There probably would not have been a fight. Just having a cane with
you provides identification and prevents a lot of problems, as we have said
before.

“But I think maybe you
sometimes have part of the same problem: you may not be using your cane consistently
here at school. I think sometimes you rely on your eyes and your memory, and
just sort of carry the cane. Then when the light is poor, you run into people
or can’t find your way. What do you think?…

“It’s been quite awhile
since we’ve had an actual lesson here at school, since you’re doing so well
downtown. I think we’ve been neglecting certain points, and I’d like to do some
work here…”

Proceed with the following
practice:

The student, wearing sleep
shades, practices walking up and down the west stairway; going to an unfamiliar
room in the north hallway; finding a seat in a darkened classroom (with prearrangement,
in a room which is vacant at the time); etc.

If desired, the above is
repeated as a special extra lesson without sleep shades.

Explain that you will occasionally
observe while the student is going from class to class. You will not say anything
at the time (you will just walk along casually nearby, and not make it obvious
that you are observing), but will discuss it later.

EXAMPLE 3: AT NIGHT

(Middle school or high
school)

Problem: the student never
walks independently at night. In fact, he dislikes going anywhere at all at
night. He travels quite well in the daytime, and while wearing shades during
lessons; however, at night he hangs onto someone else.

Talk about daytime travel
vs. evening travel. Emphasize that travel under sleep shades trains a person
to use techniques not requiring any sight. Even if a person uses partial vision
to some extent in daylight, he should easily be able to change emphasis at night
and place more reliance on the alternatives.

“Imagine you are wearing
sleep shades,” you might say. “You get along fine when you are really wearing
them. Try imagining that you do have them on.”

Depending on circumstances
and the student’s abilities, arrange experiences such as the following:

Practice in poorly lighted
areas of the school, as in the Example above.

On a very bright day, ask
the student to walk around outside and then come inside to complete specific
tasks immediately (as in Example 1, above).

Arrange a session after
nightfall. This might be in conjunction with an evening conference; after the
early sunset in winter; or by some other scheduling arrangement.

First, practice as usual
with sleep shades in situations which particularly bring out the value of the
cane: crossing streets, meeting unexpected step-downs, etc. Then continue with
comparable practice as a special extra lesson without sleep shades. Urge the
student to “imagine the shades are still on” and rely mainly on alternative
techniques. Disregarding visual input is wise when it is unreliable or so incomplete
as to be confusing.

The above practice (first
wearing shades, and then immediately practicing in a similar way without shades
in poor light) may be done without the travel teacher being actually present.
A mature student may practice alone. Parents or others may assist. But the helper
must really understand that alternative techniques are superior to the attempt
to rely on inadequate vision.

In time, the student will
learn to integrate the use of his vision with alternative techniques in the
way most advantageous for him individually. But, especially at first, it is
often good advice to say, “Never mind what you see with your eyes.”

It may be helpful to time
activities with a stopwatch, record the number of hesitations, etc., both with
sleep shades and without.

REMARKS: A student
may comment, “I get along fine in good light, even if I’m not really using my
cane. Why can’t I just leave it—or use a folding cane and keep it folded—in
the daytime? I only need it at night!”

The Handbook discusses
this question in detail. Essentially, these are the main points:

We never can be sure what
lighting conditions will exist from one minute to the next. A light bulb may
burn out; the weather may change; lighting may vary for any number of reasons.

If a person uses a cane
only part of the time, techniques will never become automatic, polished, and
reliable. Techniques will not be fully effective even when they are used.

If a person really cannot
travel well under poor lighting conditions, then his eye condition is such that
he actually would benefit from using the cane at other times, even though the
need may not be so obvious.

The main reason for avoidance
of a cane is the lack of acceptance of blindness as a respectable characteristic.
When positive attitudes are attained, the subject is viewed objectively.

Editor’s Note: Published
by the National Federation of the Blind, Modular Instruction is available
for $20 plus $9 shipping and handling. Readers may place a credit card order
with the NFB Materials Center by fax at (410) 685-5653 or by phone at (410)
659-9314. Checks made payable to the NFB may be mailed with a request for Modular
Instruction for Independent Travel for Students Who are Blind or Visually Impaired:
Preschool Through High School (order number LSA01P) to NFB Materials Center,
1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230. This information applies to
print orders within the continental USA only. For information about alternative
formats or the cost for shipping to Alaska, Hawaii, USA territories, and to
other countries, please contact the NFB Materials Center by mail, phone, fax,
or by email at <[email protected]>.